Dave Brubeck

I must say I'm not a great Jazz fan and this kind of low key cocktail jazz with polite audience applause does nothing for me. One cannot deny though how Tom Hanks lookalike Dave won the hearts of many with his Take Five hit and spread the word of Jazz to the masses ( well, to a wider audience anyway )A picture sleeve single from the 60's I imagine...................................................................................... Wikipedia says - "David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of progressive jazz. He wrote a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the saxophone melody for the Dave Brubeck Quartet's best remembered piece, "Take Five", which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on one of the top-selling jazz albums, Time Out. Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, "World's Fair" in 13/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He was also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television such as Mr. Broadway and the animated mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown."........................................................................................................................................................................Dave Brubeck - Lover............................................................................ Dave Brubeck - I'm In A Dancing Mood

Hawaiian Hula Boys

Extremely dull sounding fake Hawaiian record I picked up from the local Age UK shop the other day for 50p. Made for people who like MOR drivel. Have uploaded one side so you can hear how horrible it is!.........................................................................................................Hawaiian Hula Boys - \Honolulu/When You Dream About Hawaii.

Chucklefoot

LP on the Cottage label from 1982. Lovely one man band from the west country by the sound of it. Not much gleaned on the internet. O wait a minute here's his website right HERE!....................................................................................... "Good-time music from Chucklefoot who are Rog Butler (one-man-band, vocals, banjo, guitar, blues harp kazoo, drum, etc)… and Gill Butler (vocals, washboard, penny whistle, tea-chest bass, assorted noises) who play folk, jazz and comedy songs in their unique style."................................................................................ Tracks are as follows - 1. I Wish I Could Shimmy |Like My Sister Kate. 2. Sunshine Funshine 3. Froggy Went A Courtin' 4. The Pickle Packer's Picnic Outing 5. Gambling Man/ Last Train To San Fernando............................................................................... Chucklefoot - Side One.

Slade Flexidisc

A flexidisc from the early 70's given away with 19 magazine to publicise the release of Slade's "Something Old Something New Something Borrowed Something Blue" album.................................................................................. Wikipedia says - "Slade are a British rock band from Wolverhampton/Walsall, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter at number one, and all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. Total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies. Following an unsuccessful move to the United States in 1975, the band's popularity waned but was unexpectedly revived in 1980 when they were last minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne at the Reading Rock Festival. The band later acknowledged this to have been one of the highlights of their career. The original line up split in 1992 but the band reformed the following year as Slade II. The band has continued, with a number of line-up changes, to the present day. They have now shortened the group name back to Slade. A number of diverse artists have cited Slade as an influence, including 90s icons Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, punk pioneers The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Undertones, The Runaways and The Clash, glam followers Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Poison and Def Leppard and pop-rock stalwarts The Replacements, Cheap Trick and Oasis. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Music tells of Holder's powerful vocals, guitarist Dave Hill's equally arresting dress sense and the deliberate misspelling of their song titles for which they became well known.".............................................................................. Slade - 19 Flexidisc.

Chapparal

Tacky drawn sleeve attracted me to this run-of-the-mill country record I found in Macclesfield today for a quid in a charity shop. Full of maudlin songs but a couple of high spots I have uploaded so you can get a flavour of what's on it. No info to be found on the internet. On the SRT Productions label from 1980 so probably broke up a long time ago........................................................................................................................................................................... Chapparal - Take This Job And Shove It........................................................................... Chapparal - Ol'e Joe Clark.

Rudi Wairata

I thought this LP sounded very authentic but it turns out that this Hawaiian is Moluccan (wherever that is?)! Even so a very nice sounding record and one cannot fault the musicianship. On the Gemini label from 1962................................................................. Real name - Diederich Gijsbrecht Christo Wairata Profile: Moluccan artist, born in Ternate on December 25, 1929. He started at a young age as a Hawaiian guitar player. In 1951 he moved to Holland on a scholarship and started his own band "Mena Moeria Minstrels". Because of disagreements he leaves this band and forms a new band using the names "Rudi Wairata & The Hawaiian Minstrels" and "Rudi Wairata & The Serenaders". In 1959 and 1960 he was part of the band "De Kilima Hawaiians" as a steel guitar player. In the 1960s and 1970s he continued his musical career, but mostly in Germany. The artist has passed away in Rotterdam on July 15, 1981................................................................................... Tracks are as follows - 1.Tomi-Tomi 2. Pua Jka Lani 3. Kane-Ohe-Hula 4. Uhe-Uhene 5. Ulu-Hua-Wale-Aoe 6. |He U-I...................................................................................... Rudi Wairata - Side Two.

Stepowski Jarema

Having so many Eastern European's, especially Poles , living in the UK now it's not surprising that eventually some records from those countries would turn up in the charity shops and boot sales. This is one such example that caught my eye - the cloth cap and cheeky smile reminded me of northern comedians like Frank Randle and Al Read. No idea what these novelty songs are about but one gets a clue from the titles of the songs thankfully translated into English on the sleeve................................................................................. Wikipedia says - "Jarema Junosza-Stępowski (born January 15, 1925 in Warsaw, died. Jan. 11, 2001 ibid.) - Polish actor and singer. He has appeared in over 20 films. He appeared in Cabaret Old Men, where he sang such Disgusting drab songs (with Jeremy utensil) and Winter regret. Is known for its performances of many songs thematically and linguistically referring to the dialect and folklore in Warsaw . He appeared in the television series The Civil War, where he played in the distinctive figure of a man collecting dried bread for the horse. Casimir's nephew Junosza-Stępowskiego." (Google Translate) This amusing translation adds even more enigma to the man!................................................................................... Tracks are as follows - 1. Urchin's Tango 2. A Golden Thumb 3. The Story Of Mrs. Wisniewska 4. Mr. Valentine 5. The Red Haired Mary 6. The Parting In My Hair................................................................................... Stepowski Jarema - Side One.

Noel Coward

I seem to have missed adding this gem to the blog in the past although I seem to remember featuring Noel Coward's live album from Las Vegas at some point. Some great songs on here especially London Pride and There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner which seems very pertinent for today with some very funny lyrics................................................................................. Wikipedia says - "Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise". Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit, have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. He composed hundreds of songs, in addition to well over a dozen musical theatre works (including the operetta Bitter Sweet and comic revues), poetry, several volumes of short stories, the novel Pomp and Circumstance, and a three-volume autobiography. Coward's stage and film acting and directing career spanned six decades, during which he starred in many of his own works. At the outbreak of World War II, Coward volunteered for war work, running the British propaganda office in Paris. He also worked with the Secret Service, seeking to use his influence to persuade the American public and government to help Britain. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama, In Which We Serve, and was knighted in 1969. In the 1950s he achieved fresh success as a cabaret performer, performing his own songs, such as "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "London Pride" and "I Went to a Marvellous Party". His plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. Coward did not publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, but it was discussed candidly after his death by biographers including Graham Payn, his long-time partner, and in Coward's diaries and letters, published posthumously. The former Albery Theatre (originally the New Theatre) in London was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in his honour in 2006."............................................................................... Tracks are as follows - 1.There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner 2. Nina 3. London Pride 4. Imagine The Duchess's Feelings 5. His Excellency Regrets 6. Sail Away................................................................................. Noel Coward - Side Two.

Frankie Vaughan

An EP on the Womans Own label I found in a charity shop the other day. Frankie was a favourite crooner of my mothers but I always found his trademark "laughter in his voice" rather creepy. Some of his biggest hits here on a promo EP from 1960................................................................................... Wikidpedia says - "He was born Frank Abelson to a Jewish family in Devon Street, Liverpool, England. The name 'Vaughan' came from a grandmother whose first grandson he was, who used to call Frank 'my number one' grandson, in whose Russian accent 'one' sounded like 'Vaughan'. In his early life, he was a member of the Lancaster Lads Club, a member group of the National Association of Boys' Clubs in the UK, and in his career he was a major contributor to the clubs, dedicating his monetary compensation from one song each year to them. He was an evacuee during World War II. He started out at the club intending to be a boxer. Then at age 14 he received a scholarship to the Lancaster College of Art, where he sang in the dance band. After a stint in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War II (where he spent most of his time boxing) he returned to art school, this time at the Leeds College of Art. When he won a prize to design a furniture exhibition stand, he left for London, where he won second prize on a radio talent show. Vaughan's career began in the late 1940s in the theatre doing variety song and dance acts. He was known as a fancy dresser, wearing top hat, bow tie, tails, and carrying a cane. In the 1950s he worked for a few years with the Nat Temple band, and after that period he then began making records, and was popular in the UK. In 1955, he recorded what was to become his trademark song, "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl". He recorded a large number of songs that were covers of United States hit songs, including Perry Como's "Kewpie Doll," Jimmie Rodgers' "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," Boyd Bennett's "Seventeen" (also covered in the US by the Fontane Sisters), Jim Lowe's "The Green Door," and (with The Kaye Sisters), The Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me". From the 1950s through to the early 1960s, his recordings were popular in the UK. In 1956, his cover of "The Green Door" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] The same year he was voted 'Showbusiness Personality of the Year'.[2] In early 1957, his version of "The Garden of Eden", reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1961, Vaughan hit #1 in the UK again, with "Tower of Strength", but the rise of beat music eclipsed his chart career for two or three years, before he returned to the Top 10 in 1967 with "There Must Be A Way". Chart success eluded him after this although he did have two more Top 40 singles; "Nevertheless" and "So Tired". Managed at this time by the former journalist and theatrical agent Paul Cave,[4] he went to the United States in 1960 to make a movie with Marilyn Monroe, Let's Make Love, and was an actor in several other movies, but his recordings were never chart hits in the US. In 1961, Vaughan was on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, London. During the 1960s, he became involved with youth social problems in Easterhouse, a large housing estate in the outskirts of Glasgow, and was influential in attracting new resources and inward investment to the area. A longtime member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, Vaughan became King Rat in 1968, a feat he followed up in 1998."............................................................................... Frankie Vaughan - Milord/The Green Door............................................................ Frankie Vaughan - You Got-Ta Have Something In The Bank Frank/ Give Me The Moonlight, Give Me The Girl